


Into The Light

by Rigel99



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark Forces, Day of the Dead, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 22:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigel99/pseuds/Rigel99
Summary: Who - or what - is the mysterious young Quartermaster?Bond makes it a personal mission to find out.A little gift for artist extraordinaire, Renata.





	1. Chapter 1

“I’d like to meet him if I may. Thank him in person.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, 007.”

They were in Mallory’s office. Bond had returned that morning from a very successful infiltration of a Russian cartel. Q’s intel had got him out without a scratch.

Bond frowned. “May I enquire as to why?”

R, affectionately known as Radar by Q Branch staffers because she seemed to know where everyone was at any given time, piped up.

“Classified, 007. Need to know. I will relay your message of course.” Dismissed by M, Bond raised an eyebrow as she exited.

He returned his blue-eyed stare to Mallory. “If I’m to be kept in the dark on matters of MI6 security…”

M rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so petulant, Bond, it’s most unbecoming. Medical and then home for some R & R. You’ll be assigned another mission in 48 hours.”

“And who will be overseeing this one?”

M sat down at his desk and booted up his Pad. “The Quartermaster of course. Seems he gets the best out of our most wayward agent.”

Bond took a small step forward. “Well, imagine how much more effective…”

“The answer’s still no, Bond. Dismissed,” he said brusquely with an upward slanted gaze that brokered no argument.

Bond, seeing his charm offensive was wasted on the man, gave a curt nod and pivoted on his heel to depart. _Maybe Moneypenny…_

“Oh and Bond?”

He paused at the padded door and gave a cursory glance over his shoulder. “Sir?”

“Don’t think you can pump my secretary for information on the subject either.”

 _Damn._ “Of course not, M. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me,” ending his denial on a smile. M didn’t look convinced.

He shut the door. But the matter was far from closed where he was concerned. He was MI6’s best secret agent. And uncovering secrets was what he did best. Heading for the lift to Medical, he gave Moneypenny a seductive smile, which she returned in kind.

Looks like he would have to take matters into his own hands.

* * *

**Five Weeks Later**

Bond was getting nowhere with his investigation into the new Quartermaster. Despite having the best contacts in the business from MI5 to the CIA he couldn’t turn anything up on the man.

He was literally a ghost.

Well not quite.

James did catch a glimpse of him departing MI6 one night, leaving in an unmarked car. He trailed them to the London Underground where Q broke contact and disappeared into the bowels of London. Of course, that was the other odd thing. James had never seen him in the cold light of day. Without exception, it had only been under the cover of darkness.

And why had Q Branch moved their operations underneath the Thames? Bond suspected there was more to that than avoiding prying eyes of other agencies. But even over drinks with Tanner, the Chief of Staff was even more tight-lipped than Mallory on the subject.

It was sheer coincidence one night that Bond found himself trailing out of the MI6 garage behind the same unmarked car, he knew contained the mysterious Q.

All Bond had was a voice in his ear, a voice to which he was more determined than ever to put a face. This time, the route was different. Bond tailed them to Hyde Park where a well wrapped Q in parka and woolly hat vacated the car and strolled towards the gated entrance. Bond quickly secured his motorbike and jogged across the street.

He clenched his fists in frustration realising he’d lost him again.

Or so he thought.

A soft, seductive, familiar voice materialised in his mind from nowhere. “Why are you following me, 007?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Months Later**

Bond was running.

The muscles in his legs burned with the effort. In the hail of bullets that had been rained down upon him, only one had managed to hit home, just below his shoulder blade. The bleeding wasn’t bad but he would need to find a place to rest to allow it to clot and stem.

The darkness was his friend now. He moved in sync with its shadows. M - his M - told him before she died that was where he would do battle. He never imagined he would be bringing the battle to them. But she had always known more, wise in herself to let the cards fall where they would in their own time.

He was exhausted by the time he got to Utrecht Port, stowing onto a cargo ship and settling down amongst the crates to rest. The night was a warm glow around him while he basked in the light of a full moon. He fell asleep to the soft rumblings of the Quartermaster in his ear, body twitching in response to the images of blood and claws flooding his dreams.

* * *

He disembarked at Dover, under the cover of night once more. The MI6 safe house was only a short distance along the coast. His wound had clotted well enough. Whoever was waiting for him at the house would take care of the bullet.

As it happened it was R who opened the door on his approach. His tracking device was still operational then. R hunched down and extended her hand as Bond approached. He sniffed it once then licked, albeit grudgingly.

Bond’s tail wagged when he noticed the other wolf, white fur almost silver, hazel eyes warm with affection, come to sit next to R.

Q looked at the shoulder with a tilt of his head. _Is it bad?_ The feel of the words rather than the words themselves floating into Bond’s animal mind.

His tongue lolled. Bond could even smirk in wolf form. _Could have been worse. But wasn’t thanks to you, Q. The fur helped it clot quick enough._

Q stood and stepped closer, burying his nostrils into Bond’s neck. Bond returned the affection willingly.

“Come along, 007. Let’s get you fed and cleaned up,” R said, stepping back to allow him entrance. Bond looked up at her and then at Q, suddenly realising he had a pack, a family. And a home.

It felt good.

* * *

**Hyde Park, Two Months Previously**

Bond frowned. He put his hand to his ear, thinking he’d forgotten to take out his earpiece earlier. But no. It wasn’t there.

He looked around but there was no one. Yet, the voice was unmistakably Q’s.

“Q?” he asked the open air. The moon was bright and full above London, battling for some space amongst the artificial light of the city drowning it out.

The throaty growl had Bond reaching instinctively for his Walther.

A howl made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

 _RUN, AGENT, RUN._ Q’s voice, full of fear for his agent.

So Bond ran. Ran for his life.

But four legs were faster than two, even two that belonged to a Double O.

And he was all out of silver bullets.


	3. Chapter 3

Only four people in the world knew Q’s secret.

And right now, those four people were standing on the other side of a glass panel looking quietly at the contents of two large reinforced cages. A tawny, golden-furred beast with bright blue eyes prowled inside on the left, occasionally lashing out at the bars. Whether it was simply in anger or frustration, or systematically testing his prison for weaknesses they couldn’t quite tell yet.

The other cage, a white-haired wolf sat quietly watching, which only served to agitate the other wolf even more, finally giving up on his angry growls and pushing his leg through the bars to claw at the air between them to flop down in frustration.

“Well,” breathed Tanner. “This is… awkward.”

M exhaled through flared nostrils. “Congratulations on the understatement of the year, Mr Tanner.”

“Sorry, Sir,” he mumbled.

“What are we going to do?” Moneypenny said to no one in particular. “We can’t have two Alphas wandering the corridors of MI6. It’ll be chaos.”

But R, pragmatic as her Quartermaster, and having known him in this form since University had learned a lot from him and knew exactly what to do.

* * *

**The Lake District, 0200h**

The stealth helicopter transport, piloted by Mallory, hovered over a deserted hilltop a few feet off the ground.

He turned to where R stood between the cages. The wolves had been sedated for the flight but were now nearly fully awake.

“Ready R?” he shouted.

“Ready Sir!” came the confident call in response.

“Release!” he barked, dipping the helicopter a little closer, while R hit the door release triggers on the back of the cages. Both wolves simultaneously leapt and instinctively body-rolled to break the force of the fall. Q was the first to recover his composure, recognising instantly the smells and sounds of his favourite hunting ground. Bond took a few seconds more to get his bearings in the dark, looking up at the retreating helicopter before meeting the gaze of his Quartermaster. The rage flared once more in the pit of Bond’s stomach.

Q had attacked him. And that could not go unanswered.

He leaned back on his haunches, flattening his ears and baring his teeth. He leapt. But Q was fast, dodging the attack and taking off at a run. He knew this terrain better than Bond.

Let the old man keep up if he can.

* * *

Bond didn’t know if he was more angry or grudgingly respecting of the Quartermaster. He had followed his scent easily enough in the dark but Q had evaded him at every turn, and Bond was exhausted. The game of cat and mouse had been going for over an hour not that Bond in this form had any sense of time, only that the pup was running circles around him. He growled in frustration and his stomach growled in answer. The pause had made him realise he was starving. He took in a deep breath and centred himself, listening. It was then he felt the tremor of the soil vibrating through his paws.

 _Herd._ The word came unbidden to his mind. He moved forward on instinct letting his animal senses guide him towards the sound.

* * *

A young buck had been separated from the group. The longish grass had shielded Bond’s stealthy approach. The buck, however, was still on alert, lifting his head suddenly and almost immediately leaping forward. Bond gave chase.

The whole interlude took less than twelve heartbeats, brought to an abrupt end by Q approaching from the side and catching the deer off-guard. He sunk teeth into neck, while Bond sank his own into one of its haunches. Their prey went down instantly, the resistant kicks slowing to nothing as life left its body. Q stepped back in deference. Bond didn’t hesitate to accept the offering and only when he was done, did Q take his turn. But all the while, neither wolf took eyes from each other.

* * *

The very first vestiges of the night were being consumed by light when they came across a barn to shelter and rest. It was only when they pushed inside, Bond’s anger returned hot and quick once more. Reduced as he was to eating raw meat and sleeping rough thanks to his Quartermaster. Of course, deep down in a part of his mind he refused to immediately look towards, he knew it was his own fault for pursuing when M had specifically ordered against it. He leapt onto Q’s back and bit down hard on his neck. Q howled and bucked him off, though Bond’s form was slightly larger, Q was equal in strength. They gnashed and bit at each other, though it seemed to Q almost half-hearted and the wolf above him was venting the only way he knew how.

Both felt the departure of the moonlight from their world, and the change took hold, ripping what little fight was left in Bond. He lay exhausted and naked on the straw. Q, much more accustomed to the effect, recovered quickly and reached over to soothe the pains ebbing away from the agent as he returned to human form.

This was unknown territory for them both. But Bond only wanted one question answered.

“Why?”

Q laid down stretching along the length of him. Their eyes met and held. “We were both alone. I didn’t want us to be alone anymore. I’m sorry,” he whispered, dropping his head and grazing his teeth along his shoulder.

Bond took his chin between his fingers and tilted his head up to look him in the eyes once more.

“Don’t be,” he replied, surrendering himself.

The fate of two wolves had been sealed in their first shared hunt, first shared dawn and first shared kiss.


End file.
